CH5: Guard Break (Lin + Sean)
Jan 7, 2019 18:23:25 GMT -6
Post by moo!! on Jan 7, 2019 18:23:25 GMT -6
Linnea was on a mission.
… no, not an actual mission. Even with the break before and after their previous operation, she still felt... off. Tired, almost. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. There were still some things to settle, things from months ago that went unnoticed and overshadowed by more recent events, and it was about time to address them.
It was the better part of an hour – because finding a large space Scotsman turned out surprisingly difficult – when Lin finally caught a glimpse of him through a glass panel on the arcade door. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised to actually see him there… but then again, she didn’t know him very well at all – one or two personal flaws and a single moment of emotional vulnerability didn’t count for much.
But working on that was why she was here in the first place.
Lin was quiet as she stepped over to where Sean was currently preoccupied with a fighting game. She might have said something – at least to announce her presence – but a casual glance towards the game’s screen revealed that it wasn’t just any fighting game. No, she knew this one all too well.
She found herself eyeing the screen with the intensity of a hawk watching its prey, still silent.
The rhythmic tapping of fingers against plastic buttons echoed across the arcade, punctuated by the frequent and exaggerated grunts and shouts from speakers along one of the cabinets. The soft blue glow of its screen bathed Sean in a lonely light. He leaned closer and closer still towards the screen as he mashed the buttons with fervor. The opponent’s health bar dwindled with each strike, until finally they succumbed to his flurry of blows and fell to the ground in slow motion.
Knnnoocckkouuuut!
A heavy sigh escaped Sean’s lips as he relaxed his hands. His fighter– a busty cat woman with massive fists and skimpy clothing– raised a peace sign into the air as she held tightly onto a golden trophy. The results of the match scrolled to the right of her, a thorough breakdown of the battle distilled into raw numbers and data. He didn’t need to see it to know he could have done better.
“I get the feeling ye’re familiar with this game,” Sean started as he turned to Linnea with his back against the arcade cabinet. “Care to go a round?”
There was a notable moment of hesitation here. On one hand, she wasn't here to play games, but on the other...
"I've... dabbled in it for a bit, a long time ago. Sure." She stepped up to the arcade cabinet, looking over the familiar buttons and joysticks, then towards Sean once more. "How long have you been at this?"
“Today? Only a couple of hours,” he answered as he navigated the stylish menus into the arcade mode. There, he picked a mean-looking werewolf wearing a loose martial arts uniform with a belt across its waist. As if on instinct he switched to an alternate color scheme with orange-red fur and a plain white outfit. “In general… well, a fair few years by now.”
"Ah, likewise." Lin's pointer hovered over a few different characters before settling onto an adorably out of place looking mouse with a green backpack and a scarf around its neck.
"It has been a fair bit since I played. I, ah... haven't really visited this area of the ship before, either." She gave her surroundings a curious glance, noting the relative emptiness of the general area. "I'll trust your judgement on the ruleset and arena, if you have any preferences."
“Might as well stick to the standard ruleset, keep things fair. I’ll shake things up by randomizing the arena.”
The werewolf on the screen tightened a blue bandana and the mouse jumped up into the air in joy as he pressed the ‘start’ button. Pictures of various stages cycled across the screen as the arcade machine picked one out of a proverbial hat. Towering trees shaded the stage, light peeking between trees in the background of the arena. The two fighters stood on opposite ends of the screen.
Round 1… fighters, at the ready… begin!
… no, not an actual mission. Even with the break before and after their previous operation, she still felt... off. Tired, almost. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. There were still some things to settle, things from months ago that went unnoticed and overshadowed by more recent events, and it was about time to address them.
It was the better part of an hour – because finding a large space Scotsman turned out surprisingly difficult – when Lin finally caught a glimpse of him through a glass panel on the arcade door. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised to actually see him there… but then again, she didn’t know him very well at all – one or two personal flaws and a single moment of emotional vulnerability didn’t count for much.
But working on that was why she was here in the first place.
Lin was quiet as she stepped over to where Sean was currently preoccupied with a fighting game. She might have said something – at least to announce her presence – but a casual glance towards the game’s screen revealed that it wasn’t just any fighting game. No, she knew this one all too well.
She found herself eyeing the screen with the intensity of a hawk watching its prey, still silent.
The rhythmic tapping of fingers against plastic buttons echoed across the arcade, punctuated by the frequent and exaggerated grunts and shouts from speakers along one of the cabinets. The soft blue glow of its screen bathed Sean in a lonely light. He leaned closer and closer still towards the screen as he mashed the buttons with fervor. The opponent’s health bar dwindled with each strike, until finally they succumbed to his flurry of blows and fell to the ground in slow motion.
Knnnoocckkouuuut!
A heavy sigh escaped Sean’s lips as he relaxed his hands. His fighter– a busty cat woman with massive fists and skimpy clothing– raised a peace sign into the air as she held tightly onto a golden trophy. The results of the match scrolled to the right of her, a thorough breakdown of the battle distilled into raw numbers and data. He didn’t need to see it to know he could have done better.
“I get the feeling ye’re familiar with this game,” Sean started as he turned to Linnea with his back against the arcade cabinet. “Care to go a round?”
There was a notable moment of hesitation here. On one hand, she wasn't here to play games, but on the other...
"I've... dabbled in it for a bit, a long time ago. Sure." She stepped up to the arcade cabinet, looking over the familiar buttons and joysticks, then towards Sean once more. "How long have you been at this?"
“Today? Only a couple of hours,” he answered as he navigated the stylish menus into the arcade mode. There, he picked a mean-looking werewolf wearing a loose martial arts uniform with a belt across its waist. As if on instinct he switched to an alternate color scheme with orange-red fur and a plain white outfit. “In general… well, a fair few years by now.”
"Ah, likewise." Lin's pointer hovered over a few different characters before settling onto an adorably out of place looking mouse with a green backpack and a scarf around its neck.
"It has been a fair bit since I played. I, ah... haven't really visited this area of the ship before, either." She gave her surroundings a curious glance, noting the relative emptiness of the general area. "I'll trust your judgement on the ruleset and arena, if you have any preferences."
“Might as well stick to the standard ruleset, keep things fair. I’ll shake things up by randomizing the arena.”
The werewolf on the screen tightened a blue bandana and the mouse jumped up into the air in joy as he pressed the ‘start’ button. Pictures of various stages cycled across the screen as the arcade machine picked one out of a proverbial hat. Towering trees shaded the stage, light peeking between trees in the background of the arena. The two fighters stood on opposite ends of the screen.
Round 1… fighters, at the ready… begin!